


Grow As We Go

by EmieFaun



Series: Where The Music Takes Me [2]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Boys In Love, Challenge Response, Dialogue Light, Growing Up, Hiking, M/M, change in perspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:54:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29653683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmieFaun/pseuds/EmieFaun
Summary: Kiyotaka has known what he wanted all his life. Known his path in life. But one boy changes it all - and change is frightening.
Relationships: Ishimaru Kiyotaka/Kuwata Leon
Series: Where The Music Takes Me [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2179095
Kudos: 6





	Grow As We Go

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone
> 
> Here's the second story. A bit more fluffy than the last, that's for sure. And totally Ishileon-centric. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

The cool evening air wisps around Kiyotaka as he looks out over the horizon. Here, above what seems like the rest of the world, he has never felt more at ease. Never felt more comfortable in a place he never thought he would ever wind up. Because in every vision he ever had of his future, he never saw himself in the American wilderness.

He had always had a plan; get himself through school, then college, then university. Get himself into politics. Build up his reputation and popularity. Show the world that the Ishimaru’s are not the monsters that they’ve been portrayed to be and become the best Prime Minister that Japan has ever seen.

For the longest of times, Kiyotaka was fully invested in this plan. The backlash of his grandfather’s downfall has weighed heavily on his parents for as long as he can remember. Their name dragged through the mud, the innocent victims of merciless mockery, working round the clock as a policeman or a midwife just to make ends meet and do what’s best for their son.

So of course, he wanted to give back to them. He promised, back at the tender age of six when he heard his mother crying one night after Prime Minister Ishimaru fell from glory, that he would do what his grandfather could not. He stomped down the stairs and shocked his parents with the announcement, giving up any chance at a normal childhood right there and then.

And it was worth it. He _made sure_ it was worth it. Sure, he had no friends. Sure, he was bullied relentlessly. Sure, he came home battered and bruised a few times a month. But it was worth it because he knew that he would be his family’s saviour in the end.

But things started to change when he started Hope’s Peak.

It wasn’t a big change. Not at first. It started off with friendships. With Mondo and Chihiro, Makoto and Hina, Hiro and Hifumi. People who seemed to see past his name, past his constructed personality, and tap into the _real_ boy. And he found himself having fun for the first time in nearly a lifetime.

And then Leon Kuwata entered his life.

He’d always been on the side-lines, a constant background noise that Kiyotaka admittedly gave very little attention. For the first year and a half of being his classmate, Leon spent his time chasing girls and living it large. Kiyotaka would often head to get himself a glass of water in the night only to see the boy be carried back to his room, blind drunk in the arms of Hiro or Mondo or whatever upperclassman he happened to befriend that day. He seemed to have no regards for his education, his health, or anything whatsoever and that irritated Kiyotaka beyond belief.

It wasn’t until Kiyotaka stumbled across the boy in the toilets one lunchtime, huddled into the furthest stall and crying into his arms, that the real changes started. For the first time, he saw the redhead for who he truly was; a frightened young boy that had built a reputation for himself that was becoming harder and harder to maintain. And Kiyotaka had just happened to stumble on what was one of many moments of weakness that had plagued the boy ever since he set foot in this school.

The two became inseparable in a matter of weeks. Kiyotaka vowed to be Leon’s confidante whilst Leon promised to calm himself down and start taking his life seriously. And he did really well. It was inevitably that he would slip up every now and again because old habits are hard to break. But Kiyotaka would never judge him, would never scold him; only hold him close as he sobbed and promised it would never happen again.

Their first kiss wasn’t exactly planned. Nor was it the most appropriate, Kiyotaka has to admit to himself when he looks back at it. Leon had relapsed after a rough day and gotten blind drunk, calling Kiyotaka in a panic when his senses kicked in, sobbing in his arms and begging his forgiveness. And as normal, Kiyotaka had held him, offered gentle words of comfort, running his fingers through the boy’s hair.

And then he kissed him.

He would like to blame it on the way the moonlight hit Leon’s flushed cheeks that evening. Or maybe how his eyes sparkled like glitter as he finally stared up at him with a wet smile. He’d also like to think that Leon made the first move; that when he leant forward to nuzzle against his nose it was a silent invitation. But in all honesty, none of those were to blame. Kiyotaka had already fallen for Leon long before that night and even though the boy had melted into his embrace the second their lips met, Kiyotaka knew that he had completely taken advantage of his drunkenness and acted on his own accord.

The _I like you_ that followed was disregarded as intoxication. Kiyotaka made sure he stored that away in a locked box in his heart, never to reopen. Although a few days later, it was smashed into pieces as Leon initiated the follow up kiss halfway through their study session and out of seemingly nowhere. Red cheeks and flustered apologies, a heart-to-heart and more _I like you’s_. And then a promise never to let go followed by soft touches and passionate kisses.

And they didn’t. They stuck together through school and graduation, through college and graduation, through the application to university to study politics. Leon stood by him every step of the way; as his biggest cheerleader, his shoulder to cry on when things got tough, with unconditional love and a heart of gold. They were happy, happier than they’d ever been, and would have been content carrying on as they were for the rest of their lives.

But it was Kiyotaka who changed.

Sat in his politic lecture one afternoon, something shifted in Kiyotaka’s mind. As he stared at the words on the screen and listened to the droning voice of his tutor, Kiyotaka realised that this wasn’t what he wanted. The plan that he’d followed for his entire life, the one that would restore his family name, crumbled in front of him like chalk into dust. And all that was left was a hole of uncertainty and endless possibilities.

He wonders to this day if he should have told his father first. After his mother had passed away, his father had put his everything into supporting Kiyotaka’s dream. So surely he should have been the first to know that things had changed. And there are days, nights when he’s lying awake and staring at the sky, where he feels a small twinge of regret at not telling him. Because he thinks that if he had, things might be different.

But those days are few and far between.

It was Leon he told first. The second the lesson was over, he went straight over to their shared apartment and told him straight: _I don’t want this anymore._ Politics, education, the little apartment they rented so close to the university. It all felt so wrong all in the space of a split second at 2.48pm on Thursday 3rd April.

And he needed to go. Where? He didn’t know. To do what? Also a mystery. But he just knew that he need to get away from it all and that _everything_ needed to change.

He expected Leon to cry. To beg him to stay, tell him to reconsider giving up his dream and to stop and think just for a moment. But he didn’t. Instead he took hold of his hands and said the five most beautiful words Kiyotaka has ever heard:

_Then we’ll do it together_.

It wasn’t easy. Dropping out of university was harder than Kiyotaka could have ever expected. He had to give back all the fees he owed, chipping into Leon’s hard-earned income to bail them out of tough situations. There were highs and there were lows, months of living on cold beans and bread. But they made it through together.

And then Leon suggested they go to America.

As Kiyotaka was still unemployed and Leon’s salary was barely keeping them afloat, the idea was ludicrous. They were constantly rescued financially by their families, who surprisingly supported Kiyotaka’s decision to change his entire life, so how could they possibly go travelling in their position? But neither boy could deny the alluring call of a fresh start. _Soul searching_ , Leon called it. And Kiyotaka fell for it hook, line and sinker.

After a year and a half of research, of doing odd jobs here and there to raise enough money, of buying all the gear they could possibly need, of working out and getting in shape, they knew where they were going. The Appalachian Trail; the longest trail in the world. Five to seven months of travel if they wanted to do it all in one go. And they _did_ want to do it all in one go.

So, after getting the blessing of their families, they quit their jobs and headed off. Jetted halfway across the world with no one but each other. And they never looked back.

It’s been hard, Kiyotaka muses to himself as he gazes out at the breathtaking sights around him. Because as beautiful as the trail is, it’s also brutal. They’ve spent a lot of nights cold and hungry after misjudging how far the next campsite is. They’ve slept in poor conditions in a tent that they’ve had to replace a couple of times. They’ve stumbled across the local wildlife; sometimes a little closer to them than they felt comfortable. And they’ve had to ask their families to help them out with their finances on more occasions that either of them would have liked.

But as the night falls around them, as the orange hue of the sunset dims and the blanket of midnight blue drapes over the sky, as his gaze lands on the back of the boy in front of him, Kiyotaka knows he wouldn’t change this for the world. They’ve seen things that they never would have done back in Japan. They’ve met people from all over the world, learned valuable skills that would have been useless in their old life. They’ve done so much that Kiyotaka never thought he could ever have done and impressed himself on so many different occasions in so many different ways. 

And it’s all because of Leon.

Stood on the edge of a cliff, the boy has no idea that Kiyotaka’s eyes trail down his body; outlining his relaxed posture to etch this moment permanently into his memory. His hair has grown out and only the tips are red now; the natural brunette strands pulled back into a messy pony tail. The small beard he once supported now long gone and replaced by dark stubble; caked with dirt and grime from the tiring day they’ve just had. The muscles he has always had are larger now; more toned and pronounced even when he doesn’t try.

Leon Kuwata is not the boy he fell in love with anymore. That’s undeniable given how much he’s changed. But as Kiyotaka wraps his arms around him, breathing in the scent of sweat and dirt that has become his favourite smell in the world, he knows he would give everything for the man who leans back into his touch.

“You okay, baby?”

“Hmm.”

“Ready for tomorrow?”

Who knows what tomorrow will bring? Nothing is written in the stars, nothing is set in stone. That’s what his life always used to look like; unbending, unchanging and terribly lonely. But as Kiyotaka smiles into Leon’s neck, as he presses a kiss onto the flesh and his fingers slip against the palm of his lover, he has never felt more comfortable with the unknown. Because at the end of the day…

“So long as you’re with me, I’m ready for anything.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you would like me to consider a song for a fic, please drop me an ask at @emiefaunwrites on Tumblr. I'm going into this without ships in mind, but do expect Ishileon and Ishimondo for sure.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Much love x


End file.
